11,566 Shares in American Express Company $AXP Acquired by Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC

Key Points

• Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in American Express, acquiring 11,566 shares valued at approximately $3,112,000 during the first quarter.
• American Express recently reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved a revenue of $17.86 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share, providing an annual yield of 1.0%, with a dividend payout ratio currently at 23.02%.

Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in American Express Company (NYSE:AXP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,566 shares of the payment services company's stock, valued at approximately $3,112,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 5.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 680,308 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $183,037,000 after acquiring an additional 35,295 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of American Express by 1.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 167,534 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $45,243,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of American Express in the first quarter valued at $509,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of American Express by 6.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,458 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $25,088,000 after acquiring an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Finally, Navis Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of American Express by 368.7% in the first quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the payment services company's stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 2,791 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of American Express from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of American Express from $250.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $327.00 price target on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of American Express in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of American Express from $360.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $311.05.

American Express Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE AXP traded up $4.81 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $320.61. 1,848,235 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,386,326. American Express Company has a 12-month low of $220.43 and a 12-month high of $329.14. The firm has a market cap of $223.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $309.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $289.89.

American Express (NYSE:AXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The payment services company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.22. American Express had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 32.87%. The business had revenue of $17.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.49 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that American Express Company will post 15.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Express Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 3rd. American Express's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Anna Marrs sold 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.77, for a total value of $1,709,235.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 20,311 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,312,049.47. This trade represents a 21.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laureen Seeger sold 16,998 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.83, for a total transaction of $5,011,520.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,001 shares in the company, valued at $2,653,764.83. This represents a 65.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 134,219 shares of company stock worth $40,555,901. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

About American Express

American Express Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated payments company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Canada, the Caribbean, and Internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Consumer Services, Commercial Services, International Card Services, and Global Merchant and Network Services.